High Peak residents urged to 'Step It Up' this Recycle Week

Published on 22 September 2021

It's Recycle Week this week and the Borough Council has joined forces with Recycle Now to ask residents to 'Step It Up' by taking action to protect our environment through even better recycling habits.

Recycling saves 18 million tonnes of CO2 every year - equivalent to taking 12 million cars off the roads - but many households still don't recycle items such as aerosols, plastic toiletries, bleach and cleaning bottles and clear plastic trays.

With 50.5% of waste being recycled locally, the Borough Council and its waste partner AES want to use this week's focus on recycling to increase this figure still further by reminding people that these everyday items can be recycled via the brown bin.

And to help avoid recycling loads being rejected due to contamination, we're asking people not to put items such as plastic bags, nappies, food, electrical items and general waste in their recycling bin.

Councillor Jean Todd, Executive Councillor for Climate Change, Environment and Community Safety, said: "Recycle Week is the perfect time to remind everyone of the benefits of recycling, re-using and generally reducing the amount of waste we generate.

"Here in the High Peak our residents are doing a terrific job and are already recycling more than half of their waste which is fantastic. I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone for your continued efforts.

"But there is always more we can all do so let's 'Step It Up' and see if we can push our recycling rates even higher."

Craig Stephens, Campaign Manager for Recycle Now, said: "This year we're focused on how recycling can help fight climate change and how by recycling better we can have a bigger impact on our environment.

"Here in the High Peak it's no different - more and more of us are recycling so the next step is to make sure we get our recycling right. So, come on, let's keep up the great work and let's make our recycling better than ever before!"

Go to our website for more information about recycling and waste: www.highpeak.gov.uk/hp/bins